Investigating Cyberculture
STS 316 - SUNY Morrisville College
Professor Kurt Reymers
Fall 2009

REVIEW PAPER Guidelines

• Assignment 1 - Choice of Cyberculture for Ethnography /
  Concept Paper and Thesis Statement

• Help! I'm Writing an Ethnography!
  • The Outline
  • The Rough Draft
  • The Final Draft

Assignment 1

Ethnography Concept Paper - due Oct 1 (NO LATER!)

Register an account (if necessary) on any ‘linkfarm’, ‘community’ site or weblog (aka ‘blog’). In particular, be sure to view the “forums” or “discussion” areas of the site to get a sense of what people are talking about in the community/blog.

A few suggestions include:
digg.com
facebook.com
linkswarm.com
spinchat.com
envirolink.org
myspace.com
slashdot.org
fark.com

Search for more blogs at Google Blog Search: blogsearch.google.com

Then, write a "concept paper" that is at least 2 pages.

Be prepared to answer these questions in your concept paper:

1. What is the purpose of the community/blog with which you have registered?
2. Who seems to be the primary audience for the community/blog?
3. (How) does the community/blog deal with “bad behavior”?
4. How long has the community/blog been in existence?
5. How many members does the community/blog seem to have?

due October 1 (No late concept papers allowed!)

Cyberculture Review Paper Assignments

Six papers will be due during the semester, each one examining a different two-week section of the course. The papers will be 600-800 words (2-3 pages) and will critically review the required reading material, the website review for the section (listed on the syllabus), and any material provided in notes or done from suggested readings (or found via individual initiative).

Review papers will be due on the Tuesday class meeting following the end of the section (due dates follow). The papers must be titled, typed, double-spaced, 1” margins, and stapled. The form should be a standard critical review essay. In the essay you should:
- Identify the issue with which you are dealing;
- Briefly review the literature you have read;
- Critically analyze the literature and add your own response;
- Conclude with a description of how the cyber-issue at hand connects to the “real world,” particularly in relation to the social issue to which it connects.
- See this site for more info

Review Topic Paper due dates:

• ETHNOGRAPHY CONCEPT PAPER DUE TUESDAY, October 1
• ETHNOGRAPHY ROUGH DRAFT DUE THURSDAY, November 5
• ETHNOGRAPHY FINAL DRAFT DUE TUESDAY, December 8

<<< Back to main page